When we consider change in the workplace, our thoughts often move to organizations heading in new directions, taking on new responsibilities, or re-organizing, contracting, or expanding. We think about educating employees about the upcoming change, and we typically are aware that employees may need to adjust to the change. However, we rarely consider whether feelings of grief are part of an employee’s experience of organizational change.
Grief is sorrow, suffering, or distress over affliction or loss. In Western culture, we typically associate grief with the death of a loved one or a beloved pet, or perhaps with the loss of a home or a job. We don’t often readily associate grief with workplace change. However, change in the workplace disrupts routine – and most humans find comfort in routine. The change removes the sense of security that comes with a predictable workday and is often uncomfortable.
An employee may experience grief if job responsibilities are diminished. Even an employee being transferred to a new department with new responsibilities and greater pay may experience grief at leaving behind colleagues or customers the employee has worked with for years. Taking on a management role, which may mean one is no longer a peer of one’s colleagues, can have a sense of loss associated with it. An employee asked to take on the work of a colleague who is on leave to start hospice care or serious medical treatment may experience grief, as well. Even though one cannot predict the outcome of hospice care, or medical treatment, our culture associates both with a certain finality or uncertainty.
Employees who are processing grief as part of change may report that they feel scattered, overwhelmed, or disconnected from others. They may evidence a lack of energy, be less productive, have trouble sitting still and focusing on work, or have trouble remembering things. Typically, a person experiencing grief will alternate between denial, anger, sadness, and acceptance, and often in no order, as the person comes to terms with the loss. Each person grieves differently and for varying periods.
To assist employees who may be experiencing grief as part of a change, supervisors can acknowledge the fact that change – even positive change – can result in many different feelings and emotions. Supervisors can call EAP for a management consult on how to support their teams. For organization-wide change, such as a move or a merger, supervisors may want to have an EAP clinician facilitate a group for employees to talk about the change; how employees are feeling about it; and help employees identify positive coping skills.
Most employees find a way to move forward from feelings of grief with the support of their family, friends, colleagues, and community. However, if a supervisor has concerns about an employee, the supervisor can remind the employee about the 24/7 availability of confidential EAP services. In situations when employee performance has deteriorated, and the employee cannot seem to get back on track, the supervisor may consider a formal referral to EAP.
